


Beneath Green Leaves

by Sanctioned_Chaos



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And He Can Respect That, And Is Beyond Disappointed With The Village, As Should You, Bc Kushina is A Chaotic Lesbian And Wont Accept Anyone But Her Best Friend, Bc Ofc Minato Is Gonna Be The One Carrying, Bc Those Are His Best Friends Wtf, But More Like He Dies And Revives Years Later, But She Was Too Busy Chasing Skirts, Danzo Dies Eventually, Disaster Bisexual Namikaze Minato, F/F, F/M, Jiraiya and Hiruzen Have To Answer For Shit, Kurama Is An Interfering Troll, Kushinas Dirty Mouth, LIKE LMAO WHAT, Looking At You Rasa, M/M, MinaKushi Are Absolute Menaces, MinaKushi Is More QueerPlatonic Than Anything, Minato Becomes The Surrogate for Kushina To Continue The Uzumaki Line, Minato Had The Biggest Crush On Kushina, Minato Is Gorgeous And Angry And Gorgeous Angry, Minato Loves Children And Kinda Adopts A Ton Of Them, Minato Was Canonically A Blushy Boi Of Course I Took Advantage, Mpreg, Namikaze Minato Lives, Naruto Is A MinaKushiKyuubi Baby, Naruto grows up loved, No Uchiha Massacre, Powerful Lesbian Uzumaki Kushina, The Beloved Fourth Is Pissed As Hell, The Uzumaki Are Sealing Geniuses And Most Definitely had A Sex Changing Seal, The Village At Risk, This Of Course Changes Things, Unbeta-ed We Die Like Ninja, When The Opposite Would Mean Potentially Putting, Yin Kurama Is a Possessive Lil Shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:49:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25104976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanctioned_Chaos/pseuds/Sanctioned_Chaos
Summary: Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato don't end up marrying each other. They do, however, remain platonically attached at the hip. It changes just enough to change everything.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi/Namikaze Minato, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama/Namikaze Minato, Namikaze Minato & Uzumaki Kushina, Namikaze Minato & Uzumaki Naruto, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina, Uchiha Fugaku/Uchiha Mikoto
Comments: 21
Kudos: 134





	1. Life and Birth

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Light Of The Sun and Moon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11290737) by [Shade_Penn1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shade_Penn1/pseuds/Shade_Penn1). 



> been sitting on this idea for a while, took a nap today, had a dream abt it that i took as a sign, and i finally wrote it
> 
> unbeta-ed asf
> 
> rated m bc of kushina's language lmao and 'dattebane' was replaced with 'ya know' bc it fit better, regardless there are japanese words employed here bc i felt more comfortable using them sometimes and then the english translation other times
> 
> god knows i'll end up changing at summary later but considering it's 2 am and i'm delirious it's what we're gonna go with for now

When Kushina asks Minato to be her surrogate, the blonde ninja is headfirst in a pile of Uzumaki sealing techniques gifted by his rambunctious best friend not ten minutes prior. He should’ve recognized the plethora of Uzumaki scrolls for the bribe that they were, any self-respecting shinobi would’ve seen it coming, but Minato is freshly returned from a mission Lord Hokage had given him personally and dead on his feet by the time the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki ambushed him outside of his own home. It doesn’t excuse his oversight and it doesn’t prevent him from ungainly choking on his tongue when her words finally register.

“S-surrogate? Kushina, what?!”

Undeterred by his near-shriek of a response, Kushina scoots closer, almost creasing precious clan secrets, and Minato fumbles to grab the scrolls between them before they can suffer any damage.

“C’mon, Mina, ple~ase. I’ll treat you to Ichiraku for a week.”

“Ramen only works against you, Shina. And one week? Really?” A bead of sweat forms on Minato’s forehead as he organizes the mass of documents beside him. 

“Fine, two weeks. But that’s as high as I’ll go, ya know! C’mon, pretty boy, do your best friend this solid, yeah?”

“You haven’t actually clarified what I’ll be doing.”

“I thought you were a genius or something.” The redhead grumbles, arms crossed around her chest as she observes him. “I said be my surrogate.”

It takes all of Minato’s training not to jump to conclusions and outright balk at her. He does, however, allow his eyebrows to furrow.

“Did one of the others put you up to this? Shikaku maybe? Or is this some bet you and Mikoto made?”

“You’re insufferable, Blondie.” Kushina releases a sigh, voice taking on a patronizing tone as if she’s explaining something to a toddler. Minato would bristle if he wasn’t so used to her antics. “You, me, and a bouncing bundle of baby fat. Capiche?”

Okay, okay, he really _can’t_ interpret that wrongly. Minato unclasps one hand from the body of a scroll to rub at his neck sheepishly, resisting the urge to break eye-contact with the woman in front of him despite the heat in his cheeks.

“I thought you said you didn’t like me like that, Kushina. You pretty much broke my heart in the Academy, remember? And, um, well- don’t take this the wrong way- but I finally managed to get over you. Please don’t play around with me now.”

It seems to make the redhead soften just a tad and Minato keenly watches as she uncrosses her arms from around her body to lay one hand on his shoulder in lieu of comfort.

“I know, Mina. Sorry if that came off weird. I still like vagina too much, ya know. Though I’ve seen you naked and you _do_ have a pretty d-”

“Shina!” 

“And I’ve seen a few in my time, not voluntarily mind you, but it’s unavoidable in the field. You’ve got the clan brats beat-”

“Kushina!”

She shuts her jaw with a click and doesn’t stifle her snort at Minato’s bright blush. The air feels distinctly less heavy between them and, privately, he appreciates her good humor. Outwardly, his fingers twitch to cover her mouth in hopes of preventing more scandal.

“You’re a ‘clan brat’ yourself too, you know.” He grumbles under his breath, studiously avoiding her eyes. “And if Fugaku or Hiashi heard you calling them that, they’d blow a gasket. Possibly demand a formal audience with the Uzumaki.”

“Bah, what’re they gonna do? I’m the one that has to listen to their complaints, anyway, not like I’m actually gonna punish myself.”

He shudders even picturing it. Kushina, standing in front of her make-shift clan compound, one finger in her ear and obviously not listening as delegates from the Hyuuga and Uchiha demand satisfaction for the not-so-imagined slights to their heirs. Lord Hokage would have a conniption. Mikoto would cackle like the she-devil you’ll never catch Minato admitting she is and Hizashi wouldn’t be far off, though he, at least, might make an attempt to hide his laughter behind his sleeve. Minato, officially clanless but unofficially tied to the Uzumaki because Kushina is an unapologetically possessive best friend and isn’t above reminding him of those Uzumaki secrets he really shouldn’t know just to get him to admit his honorary clan status, would never hear the end of it. 

“So anyway, wanna try your hand at pregnancy?”

Minato’s train of thought finds a metaphoric cliff of Hokage faces to metaphorically crash into.

“Me?! What-” 

Kushina’s eyes take on a completely different light and he shuts his own jaw, silence reigning in the small apartment for a few, pointed, breaths.

“I can’t be the last Uzumaki, Mina.”

And, yeah, she’s right. Uzushio’s destruction and subsequent sealing off has been a topic the village had masterfully skirted around since the war but it certainly wasn’t something that had been forgotten. There were been talks for years, talks he probably shouldn’t know about but most definitely did- _his best friend is high on his priority list after all, a fact he doesn’t doubt is mirrored on Kushina’s own_ \- and it was more than a few select people who entertained the idea of forcing the Uzumaki heiress into an arranged marriage just so she could produce children to continue the line after her. 

_Produce_ . He hisses internally at the word. _Like she’s some broodmare_.

Minato had nearly taken an elder’s head off the first time he’d heard it. Lord Hokage had, thankfully, shut that idea down before Minato could fully weigh the pros and cons of becoming a missing nin. 

Kushina had all the wealth of Uzushio behind her, all the Uzumaki sealing techniques, and she had the Kyuubi. She was bull-headed, intelligent, as wily as the fox inside her, and had all the resources to back her. Figuratively, she had the village by the balls. Trying to force a marriage on her would mean voluntarily neutering themselves. Konoha had all of three seal-masters within her walls and even if Orochimaru’s admirable proficiency grew by leaps and bounds, Minato would never _not_ side with his best friend.

Minato, himself, is no slacker either. He’s an orphan, clanless for all that he has a family name, but he’d been top of his class at the Academy and, as it stood, no one else in the village could claim to be a student of one of the Sannin. Site bias all you like, it won’t change the fact that Jiraiya-sensei would side with him and, in a completely unofficial sense, so would Lord Hokage. What, like he hasn’t heard the whispers? Hasn’t put together exactly why the Sandaime had been trusting him with more and more missions? Asking him, personally, to sit in on meetings and offer his opinion? It isn’t arrogance for Minato to say the Fourth seat is as good as his, it’s objective analysis. 

Plus they’re both war heroes and practically holy figures in the Land of Fire.

Between the two of them, and as much as they liked to bicker, Konoha’s various clans are behind them too. Mikoto and Kushina are practically attached at the hip outside of her time with Minato, unsurprising given the bond of genin teammates, sometimes dragging Tsume into their meetings. Fugaku and Shikaku are two of his closest friends, dividing his attention quite expertly when he’s off-duty and Kushina forcibly expels him from his own apartment to discourage his intense bouts of invention obsession. Inoichi regularly asks him for an outside perspective in Interrogation, and, because Minato had apparently flourished with Kakashi, wanted advice on helping Ibiki. Chouza made it clear Kushina and her appetite are always welcome at his compound, Minato and his smaller-but-not-by-much appetite therein welcome by extension. Hiashi and Hizashi have a weird fixation neither of them will admit to for very understandable reasons (Minato and Kushina _would_ remove the Caged Bird Seal and had promised as much upon Academy graduation but, until Hiashi was officially Clan Head, none of them could so much as breathe a word of it lest they incur wrath from Hyuuga Elders). And, despite Kushina’s statement many years back that foxes were omnivores that loved snacking on bugs and Minato’s drunken, _absolutely mortifying_ , encouraging cheer, the Aburames seemed set on being particularly contradictory and made a habit of seeking both of them out when they were in town just to introduce them to newly-cultivated hives and swarms(thank Kami Minato isn’t squeamish).

So when Kushina opens her mouth next, he gets it, he really does.

“It’s you, it has to be you.”

For more reasons than one, Minato is her only option.

That isn’t what’s important.

“If you don’t want it, Shina, we’ll find a way to convince them. To wait a few more years, at least. You don’t _need_ to do anything.” He holds her by the forearms, projecting as much earnest comfort and determination into his words as he can. 

They’ll raise hell before the Konoha Elite force his best friend into a situation she detests.

Kushina grips his forearms consolingly, shaking her head side to side.

“They didn’t mention anything, don’t worry. It’s actually all my idea for once, ya know.”

He blinks.

“Can I ask why? I mean, you’ve never talked about wanting a child before, Shina.”

“I know but, well, Mikoto’s pregnant again and little Itachi is a real cutie. It’s pretty great being a Godmother, ya know.”

As Itachi’s Godfather, Minato can relate. The child is quiet but wise beyond his years and so very kind. It had taken some convincing from the both of them initially but Itachi still accepts Kushina and Minato’s hugs every time they see him, despite how much he’s grown. They love him so much, as if he’s their own, and Mikoto and Fugaku more than encourage it.

“And, I don’t know, it got me thinking. I’m gonna be a mom someday, anyway. There’s no debating that much. I thought, now’s as good a time as any.”

“Not to discourage you, Shina, but are you sure? Parenting’s really serious and you need to be ready for all that it entails.”

“Can you really say you were ready with Kakashi-kun?” _And Obito and Rin_ goes unsaid _._

He bites down on a laugh, brief memories of Kushina teasing him upon the news of receiving his own genin team flashing to the forefront of his mind.

“Well, I suppose not completely.”

“You managed, didn’t you? And that was in wartime, ya know. This child will be raised in peace, Mina, and I’ll love them as much as I’m physically able, I know it. Isn’t that what really matters?”

Minato ponders her statement and recognizes her conviction.

“I suppose they’ll never want for anything then, especially since your fortune puts the Daimyo to shame.”

She cuffs him lightly on the shoulder, smiling. “Exactly.” Minato opens his mouth to say more but Kushina’s smile turns foxlike and she barrels on, unperturbed.

“You’ll definitely need to tell the Sandaime about taking a maternity break when you’re Hokage, though. Mikoto says stress isn’t good for the baby and even if you’re possibly the only ninja in all the nations to actually _like_ paperwork, I’m afraid I refuse to let you risk it.”

He’s going to ignore the bit about Kushina knowing he’ll be the Yondaime soon because there’s no point asking. But that last part? That’s been fairly ambiguous since the beginning. Minato, genius that he is, doesn’t really understand what she’s getting at.

“Yes, you still haven’t expounded on that point.”

Kushina fixes him with the kind of look one would give at a wounded puppy trying and failing to get on its feet. “Minato, dearest, you didn’t think _I_ would be carrying the little tyke, did you?”

Minato blinks again. Once. Twice. Takes a deep breath.

“Kushina, _darling_ , we both know your knowledge of the female anatomy, specifically the sex organs, needs no correcting. I would, however, like to remind you that the entire reason we didn’t work out in the first place is because I lack the necessary parts. As do you, if you’re implying what I think you’re implying. Two eggs does not a baby make.”

“Oh don’t worry, you can keep that pretty dick of yours, Mina. We’ll just give me a matching one for however long it needs to take and equip you with something extra for the nine months that baby needs to gestate.”

He stares, tongue heavy in his mouth. “I see.” Minato hides a wince.

“And how will we be doing that exactly?”

“Well, you can start by finishing that pile of Uzumaki sealing scrolls you’re hoarding behind you like a mama bear with her cubs.”

The noise that leaves his throat is something between a dry croak and a horrified whine. He _had_ been wondering why Kushina brought him transformation seals even though they both knew physiological stuff was more Orochimaru-san’s alley than either of theirs. 

Minato thinks about fighting her, he does, he really does. If not because she’s dropped this on him out of the blue, then purely for his dignity alone. There’s a reason he and Kushina hadn’t experimented even _once_ just to see if maybe Minato was special and didn’t need female genitalia to satisfy the curious redhead. Kushina’s appetite was famously voracious, in every aspect. Minato’s past feelings aside, admittedly talented ninja that he is, could he even survive that? Kushina with all her available parts is already something to fear if village kunoichi and civilians alike are to be believed but Kushina- _he coughs at the next line of thought_ \- armed and dangerous? Minato has a very, very bad feeling. 

“I can see that brain of yours chugging away in there, ya know. Feel like sharing with the class?”

He pastes a shaky smile on his face.

“And you’re sure you can’t go to Mikoto with this?”

Kushina throws her head back and guffaws. Minato’s words catch up with him and he immediately smacks himself as the Uzumaki heiress wipes a tear from her eye.

“Ignoring the fact that Mikoto is already very, _very_ pregnant and Fugaku would try to ruthlessly free me from that new dick we’ll be figuring out how to give me, Mikoto and I broke up years ago for a reason. You know as well as I do that nothing works on an Uchiha once they’ve found their person. Besides, the Elders would die on the spot and the Uchiha would demand my expulsion from the village. It was one thing letting an Uzumaki date one of their own, it’s another to actually let the blood mix, ya know.”

Minato remembers the political indignation that had broken out when Kushina was caught trying to suck Mikoto’s soul from her body at fourteen. He’d been hounded by Uchiha clan members left and right, asking him what Kushina was doing when they apparently thought she was already involved with him, and making the mistake of phrasing their poorly-hidden interrogation/intimidation like he should be keeping her on a leash. If it hadn’t been for Fugaku, Minato would’ve reminded them all of the flashy moniker he’d recently gained from a successful mission near Kumogakure. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for Fugaku, he might still be fielding those same questions- albeit, worded far more politely given Minato’s own standing within the ninja world and his close relationship to their Clan Head. It was a blessed day when his dark-haired best friend finally stepped up and admitted his own feelings to the Uchiha kunoichi, stealing her from Kushina in the process. (And boy, wasn’t that a _fun_ day for him, skillfully diverting Kushina from ruffling too many notable feathers on her warpath.)

It’s a testament to how off-balanced he is that Minato had managed to shove his own foot so far into his mouth by forgetting. 

“Right. Let’s not tell Mikoto I mentioned it.”

“Uh-huh, you owe me ramen.”

“If that’s the price I have to pay to avoid righteous murder at the hands of our two best friends? Happily.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.”

Minato decides to bite the kunai and ask the thing that’s been bothering him the most. Blonde brows furrow together in confusion. “Right and why can’t we work with the original parts we already have?”

Kushina openly flinches and he reaches for her out of instinct, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb in an attempt to erase the dark look etching frown lines on her previously amused face.

“I’m sorry, Shina. I upset you.”

She huffs out a breath in a shaky laugh. “Nah, it’s not you, pretty boy.” Kushina takes a breath before continuing. “Biwako-san informed me that the seal on the Kyuubi weakens exponentially during childbirth.”

It’s the first time Minato’s hearing it but, considering the subject in question, he’s not surprised. Going by her tone, it must be news to Kushina as well. 

“Apparently, it escaped during Mito-sama’s labor and Shodaime-sama was just able to keep it contained before it could wreak too much havok.” Lilac eyes stare purposefully into worried sapphire. “We’re good, Mina, but we’re not First Hokage good. Even if it was me and you were there to help, it’s too great a risk. I won’t do that to our child or to Konoha.”

Minato holds her gaze and feels something settle between his ribs. 

_Well then._

“I know what I’ll be doing for the next week, I suppose. Mastering these seals will take a few days and we don’t want anything going wrong after we’ve applied them.”

Kushina blinks at him before hurling herself into his arms. He lets her sudden weight throw him off-balance, spinning them in mid-air to avoid coming down on the small bed of scrolls directly behind him and letting out a quiet ‘oomph’ when they hit the ground. A head of crimson burrows under his chin and Kushina’s arms, lean but deceptively strong, border on bruising his ribs with the force of their grip.

“Thank you thank you thank you, Mina. I _absolutely_ promise to help you with your cravings, and tell you you’re definitely not fat and still gorgeous, and bully Lord Hokage into giving you paid maternity leave, and-”

“And learning these seals with me I hope?” He chuckles fondly, hugging her back just as tightly. “I stand by the belief that two sealing masters are better than one in every scenario but _especially_ now, given how long we’ll need this seal to stay on me.”

Few people have the mind for seals like Kushina does and, as much as he respects Orochimaru-san, he doesn’t trust him with something as delicate as this. (Plus Minato _really_ wants to avoid the embarrassing discussion that will undoubtedly come when the Snake Sannin questions the seal’s effects on his body and, unerringly, asks to see for himself as confirmation. He’s Jiraiya-sensei’s teammate and Minato had a crush on him when he was twelve okay, he’s revisited enough old feelings today to last a century, thanks.)

“Of course of course, ya know.” Kushina croons into his neck. “I’ll study properly this time, just for you and the baby.”

“‘M holding you to that, Shina. No falling asleep in the middle.”

“Promise on ramen, Mina.”

He smiles.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Inevitably a week passes and Minato is confident as can be. About the seals at least. Not so much about that look in Kushina’s eyes. It promises a lot of things, too many things if he’s being honest.

“I’ll be gentle, Minato, ya know. It’s our first time.” She glances at his naked body and leers down at her own. “Lots of firsts tonight.”

Minato does his best not to fidget. He’s never been a fidgeter. it should be easy. But he’s naked and he has added...parts. Unfamiliar and strange. It throws him off. Minato shifts his weight.

“Kushina, that’s not comforting at all. Please try to look less like you can’t wait to eat me alive.”

“Hey, it’s not all my fault. You’re a sight for sore eyes most days, Mina, but now you actually have a _vagina_.” She says the last word like it’s holy, lilac irises alight in manic glee. “I can say I got it up because of you.” Kushina giggles, pointing down at her crotch. “And I can mean it! Look! Look at it rise!” 

Minato struggles not to hide his face in his hands, weirdly exasperated and noticeably less embarrassed than he’d been at the start. 

“Kami, let this not take more than once.” He whispers under his breath.

Kushina tilts her head, eyebrows furrowing, and grins.

“Dearest, I’m going to remind you now because I’m nothing if not a courteous partner. I have great stamina, ya know. Just once doesn’t mean much in terms of sparing your delicate sensibilities.”

Minato groans and walks over to the bed.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Somewhere in the middle, as Kushina takes her sweet time and Minato genuinely suffers for it(in more pleasure than he’ll ever admit), he climaxes for the fourth time, hiding his face beneath his arm and breathing through an unnatural heat.

Somewhere in the end, Kushina will bite his clavicle with teeth too sharp to be fully hers, moaning into his shoulder, and Minato will close his eyes tightly at the wash of pleasure encapsulating oversensitive nerves.

Somewhere, in the throes of passion, not quite before reaching the precipice but long after Kushina gives up any semblance of foreplay and the two of them lose themselves to feeling, blackened lips will stretch in a fox’s grin and, though he won’t remember it, Minato glimpses ruby red eyes.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Once, it turns out, is more than enough but still takes nearly thirty minutes, and Minato won’t say anything more than that. Kushina, however, will recount to you in profound detail just how tantalizing Minato looks when he’s thoroughly debauched and utterly wrecked and, upon remembrance, will sigh in regret- commenting sagely on the fact that her best friend is wasted as a man.

Not that anyone ever asks mind you. The Yellow Flash of the Leaf has a chilling face moments before he kills someone and, by the time Minato’s showing, everyone and their mother has glimpsed it at least once. Wisely, they skirt around those particular details and congratulate the non-couple instead.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Lord Sandaime Hokage rubs the bridge of his nose tiredly, Uzumaki Kushina grinning over his shoulder from a few steps behind him. Lord _Yondaime_ Hokage looks up from his paperwork and waves Genma away from where the younger man has been diligently rubbing his feet.

“I spend most of my day sitting in this chair and yet, somehow, they still hurt.” He offers, by way of starting the long-awaited conversation. “I’m not even that big yet, I really don’t get it.”

“Minato, please.” The elderly man sighs out, face pinched in consternation. “Were the two of you ever going to inform us? Me, at the very least? Need I have discovered this important information from one of the Academy children?”

Genma shifts from beside him, the perfect picture of obedience, hands clasped at the small of his back. If Minato didn’t know him better, he wouldn’t even be able to tell he’s laughing behind his mask.

“I greatly underestimated the amount of paperwork I’d have to do as Hokage, Sandaime-sama. I became distracted.” Minato apologizes honestly. “Also, Kushina has a pool going around betting on how long it’d take you to find out.”

He sees her inaudible growl at throwing her under the bus but his best friend has always recovered remarkably well and Kushina erases any trace of admonishment. 

“Longer than it should have, Sandaime-sama.” She states factually.” I’m afraid Asuma-kun hit the nail on the head with this one.”

Minato doesn’t smile but his eyes definitely glint mirthfully. “I, of course, engaged in no such inappropriate behavior.”

“Gotta admit, didn’t think you’d figure it out till Mina was ready to pop.” Kushina adds in easily, tone absurdly formal so as to avoid being too presumptuous. Genma’s no doubt laughing even harder than before, though still soundless, but not so much as a whisker mark on his Tanuki mask quivers. For all of one moment, Minato is decidedly impressed. 

Lord Third doesn’t speak for several minutes and when he does, his words come out in a great sigh. Tension releases from the shorter man’s shoulders and Minato’s answering smile is as respectful as it is affectionately thankful. When Jiraiya-sensei had taken him in as a student, the Sandaime had effectively pulled him under his wing as well and Minato viewed him like a doting grandfather. Ultimately, it was a consequence of his position but he disliked seeing Sarutobi-sensei so stressed. 

“I’m more surprised Danzo didn’t rub it in my face as an excuse for having chosen unwisely.”

At the mention of the cane-wielding Elder, everyone else in the room stiffens. Minato rises in his seat, eyes shining with a hard light like deep dark pools of blue. They’d accounted for him, of course, the morning after the deed was done and the seal just shy of his belly button was warm with success. More than anyone, _that_ man worried him and Kushina the most.

He’d taken the news far more calmly than they expected and Kakashi too, was overly suspicious at his nonaction, refusing to leave Minato’s side from the day he found out. Even as of this moment, unrevealed though he may be, Kakashi hovered protectively. It was a productive of impeccable timing for Minato to implore him to join Anbu as his right hand. Inu had more cause than most to see their Hokage safe. 

“It’s _because_ you chose wisely that it’s me carrying this baby and not Kushina, Sandaime-sama. The Uzumaki line must be secured, as well as our other asset.” He doesn’t need to clarify just what asset he’s talking about. “Who better to see to both, than the Hokage?”

“I gather that I’ll need to step back into the position for a few months.”

“Unfortunately, yes, Sandaime-sama. I hate to pull you from your retirement so soon but Biwako-sama herself insists I take the last trimester off, in order to avoid complications with the baby.” 

Kushina nods along as he speaks, firmly agreeing with the timeframe they’d decided on, and Minato suppresses a smile at her actions. She’d personally informed Biwako-sama of their plans and secured her support early on, a fact that could only help them rather than hinder.

“And when did my wife come to know about this development, exactly?”

“Three weeks after we confirmed I was pregnant, Sandaime-sama.”

_Pregnant._

Minato doesn’t trip up over the word anymore, not like he did those first two months, but sometimes it does feel like a truly out of body experience to acknowledge the life that his previously male, and only male, body is currently housing. Unconsciously, a hand comes up to rub the tiny swell at his midsection. 

“I admit, I had expected her to inform you of my pregnancy sooner.”

“As do I.” Lord Third replies, lightly smacking his lips after speaking, as if the words had left a bad taste on his mouth.

He doesn’t even know how to begin unpacking that subject, though Kushina will later tell him privately of Biwako-sama’s secret penchant for mischief especially with her husband, and - luckily - he’s spared from navigating a way out of the awkward conversation by the Sandaime’s next question.

“Does Jiraiya know?”

The tingle of a reverse-summoning jutsu registers against Minato’s long-discovered sensory abilities, of which were only heightened with his pregnancy, and he doesn’t need to turn to see the sudden cloud that appears in the street below the Hokage Tower.

He certainly hears the deafening call of his name just fine, as does everyone else going by the collective wince. His answer is redundant but he provides it anyway, if only to see Genma lose every semblance of control and let out a sharp wheeze.

“Rather recently yes.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


In no exaggeration whatsoever, Chouza frets like a mother hen the next time they visit the Akimichi compound and Minato, hopelessly allowing of the antics of the younger generation, watches without interrupting as the frantic Clan Head packs an assortment of vegetables and protein on a plate Minato certainly hadn’t been holding four seconds prior. They’re still in the doorway after all, haven’t even taken off their shoes yet, much less sat down at a table to eat. Inoichi does his best to wrangle his teammate and Kushina gleefully takes the offered plate, divesting herself of her sandals, and heads deeper into the house. Shikaku releases an exasperated sigh and lifts an eyebrow at Minato.

“Yondaime-sama?”

Minato shakes his head, laughing lightly.

“Never change, Shikaku. Not a single one of you. Do that for your Hokage, will you?”

Shikaku debates his answer for a minute, calmly toeing off his shoes, and stepping inwards- one arm out to help Minato.

“I’m six months pregnant, not invalid.” He pouts.

“Of course not, Hokage-sama. Doesn’t mean a dutiful ninja can’t offer.”

His sharp-witted best friend waits patiently as Minato pulls his feet from the sandal-straps with his toes alone, unable to bend and finagle them off and unwilling to contradict himself by asking for help. Smiling, and certainly not huffing from exertion because seriously he’s been through far worse what even, Minato steps to stand beside Shikaku. The expressionless jounin takes him in silently, retracting his arm and placing his hands in his pockets. 

“I’m not so sure about being able to guarantee that for Hokage-sama..” Shikaku starts. “..But for Namikaze Minato, well, that’s not too hard a request, now is it?”

Inoichi and Chouza gaze at them, having long finished their bickering, faces beaming. Minato grins at the gathered trio, chest full of warmth and secure in the knowledge that, whatever the future brings, he’ll have his friends beside him for all of it.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Where’s Kushina?” Minato winces, forcing the words out through clenched teeth as another wave of pain hits him.

“She was with Mikoto when your water broke but I’ve already sent for someone to get her, don’t worry.”

Fugaku carries him through the hospital hallways without breaking a sweat, gait steady and arms strong as the nurse leads them into a room. Biwako-sama stands beside the pristine white bed, surrounded by a small army of waiting hospital staff, and Minato breathes out as the pain subsides momentarily. 

“Is half of Konoha General truly necessary for this?” He clips out as Fugaku lays him down. “I doubt I’m the only one who needs help as of this moment.”

Biwako-sama fixes him with an unamused look and Minato, nigh-delirious with pain on top of being unable to understand why he isn’t handling it well considering he’s sustained worse injuries in the field, feels a distant pulse of shame. Strangely enough, it’s Fugaku that answers him.

“You are the Yondaime, Minato, absolutely _nothing_ will go wrong with this birth. If this room is brimming with doctors and nurses to make sure that remains the case, it will be.”

The appearance of Fugaku’s fiercely protective streak would make Minato chuckle if he weren’t so busy trying to detach himself from the unfamiliar sensations happening beneath the skin of his lower torso. Biwako seems to take pity on his plight, someone finally realizing the discomfort he feels from not only a pain he doesn’t understand but also having so many people- people Minato himself is charged to protect and govern- directly privy to his unique circumstances. Knowing the Yondaime was somehow pregnant was one thing, _seeing_ him give birth is another. Breathing through another contraction, he still has the presence of mind to recognize the hospital staff certainly have other people they could be treating.

And fine. _Yes_ , he’s a little weird about so many eyes seeing his mismatched genitalia. But also _no_ , he absolutely doesn’t trust so many hands near him when he’s in a state of vulnerability and about to deliver a miracle baby. 

“The Yondaime Hokage is right, Uchiha-san. I only brought the extra help in case he was in a worse state upon arrival. All of you are dismissed except those who I expressly told beforehand would be absolutely necessary.”

Most of the hospital staff bow to Biwako and Minato before filing out, with the exception of two other nurses. 

“Now Minato, I’m going to need to cut you out of those pants.”

Minato groans around the next contraction and closes his eyes for a brief moment.

“Inu.” He says once, the name punched out of him and quieter than he’d intended.

It’s somehow enough. Kakashi appears immediately, scarcely before he’s finished calling him, bowing off to the side of Minato’s hospital bed.

“Sensei.”

“Find Kushina. Escort her here, Mikoto too if she insists.” Minato recognizes the stiffening of Kakashi’s frame as disobedience without the younger man verbally responding and nips it in the bud. “That’s an order from your Hokage, Inu.”

A year ago, Kakashi wouldn’t have dared to contradict him, not when Minato uses his Teacher voice, but he doesn’t rise from his kneel and he doesn’t disappear and- later, when he has the time- Minato will feel momentarily awed by this instance. At how the eighteen year-old has grown, has healed from the combined loss they both feel keenly every day that Obito and Rin aren’t somewhere in the village alive and well. For now, Minato bites down on his impatience as firmly as he does the stab of pain coursing through him.

“Kakashi, go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back and worry over me yourself.”

Inu hesitates for a fraction of a moment, finally hearing something in Minato’s voice that convinces him though Minato doesn’t have the presence of mind to figure out, and disappears from the room faster than a blink. Minato closes his eyes, allowing himself one brief second of relief. He’s snapping them open in the next breath and whipping his head around to glare at an unblinking Fugaku.

“So help me if you use your Sharingan to memorize anything you see in this room, I’ll tell Mikoto herself what really happened that day Kushina came to collect your head for stealing her girlfriend.”

Fugaku pales reflexively, nodding hurriedly in a manner very unlike an Uchiha, and Minato grips his hand to further hammer home his point. He hears something creake suspiciously beneath his fingers and Fugaku smiles awkwardly around his bruising grip.

“Of course, Mina. You don’t need to threaten me, I wouldn’t have done so whatever the case.”

“Good.” Minato manages to grit out just as the word turns into a scream.

Biwako looks up from between his legs, face stony. “You’re not dilated enough, Yondaime. Breathe!”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Kakashi makes it just in time to see a man in an orange mask knock Uchiha Mikoto unconscious and disappear with Uzumaki Kushina before he can so much as flash-step in their direction. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Inu reappears in the hospital room with a sleeping Mikoto in his arms, mask pulled to the side to reveal the ashen face of Hatake Kakashi, and Minato _screams_ . The next few moments are a blur. Fugaku must leave his side at the sight of his unconscious wife because the next thing Minato knows, Kakashi is sidling up to replace him. Biwako-sama either says ‘ _push_ ’ or ‘ _not yet_ ’ but Minato doesn’t make it out over the sound of Kakashi promising to look for his missing best friend.

“I’ll find her, Sensei. You won’t lose anyone else anymore.”

Kakashi vanishes at the last word, Genma and Raido making themselves known and taking up opposite ends of the room. There’s almost-certainly a full platoon of Anbu outside, guarding the door, occupying the surrounding rooms as a safety measure, and standing just shy of the wall of windows but Minato knows his own limits better than anyone. Knows he can be gone before any of them move to stop him.

He has a Hiraishin Seal on Kushina and he can feel it hasn’t been removed through the haze of pain that is pushing or not pushing. His mind is otherwise occupied and, as such, he’s unable to fully tell what it is his body’s doing, but he trusts his instincts and he trusts his subconscious to listen to Biwako-sama’s instructions even as he, himself, is doing anything but. He has a Hiraishin Seal on his apparently-missing best friend and you can be absolutely certain he’s going to get her back.

She hasn’t seen the face of her child yet- _their_ child- and Minato will die before that happens. 

For now, he tunes back into the present. Minato places a Hiraishin on his bed sheets, hiding the tell-tale ink of a seal underneath his death grip. He’ll get Kushina back, whatever the cost. 

He can only hope she lasts long enough for this baby to be delivered. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Minutes pass. It has to be minutes. It _has_ to be because Kushina won’t last if it’s longer than that and Minato feels like it’s been hours but no, no that can’t be true. He _refuses_. Logically, he reasons that the pain is confusing his senses and sweet clarity hits as soon a newborn body slips free from between his legs. Biwako-sama cuts the umbilical cord in the next breath and the transformative seal below Minato’s bellybutton lifts free from his skin before dissipating in the air. He looks at his baby once, the pink, wrinkled face of this crying child he’d just welcomed into the world, and activates Hiraishin.

With the sex-altering seal freed from his body, most of the pain Minato felt dissipates. He hadn’t been completely sure that would be the case, deliberating that fact during his glancing bouts of lucidity, but he and Kushina had theorized it to be so in the months prior and he was counting on that theory, if nothing else. He appears in a glen and moves without thinking, cradling a panting Kushina in his arms as he crouches at the top of a tree.

What an image they must make. Him in a hospital gown Biwako-sama had worked onto him sometime before the worst of the labor started, sweat matting his hair to his forehead. Kushina, fighting unconsciousness in his arms as the seal on her stomach drips black fluid. A strange ninja, because he can only be a ninja, in an orange swirl of a mask standing atop the towering figure of the enraged Kyuubi. 

Minato oozes KI in their direction and pulls at Hiraishin again, appearing beside his hospital bed with an arm full of dying Uzumaki Jinchuuriki. 

Biwako-sama stares back at him, a mix of incandescent rage, shock, and relief and Minato doesn’t bother apologizing as he gently lays his best friend on top of dampened sheets. They don’t have time to care about which bodily fluids Minato had leaked onto the bed and Kushina grips his hand tightly as he moves to disappear again.

“The baby-” She gasps, struggling to draw breath. They are, the both of them, so very tired. “Are they-”

“He.” Minato murmurs lowly. He’d seen that much at least, that and a head of hair as bright as his own. “They’re a he, Shina.”

Biwako-sama comes up beside him then, holding the cleaned-form of their sleeping baby boy, and wordlessly offers him to Minato. There’s still a few pangs of pain in Minato’s gut, not enough to be worrying but removed enough that it feels like it’s not his body they’re happening to(which, in a way, is correct) but he does his best to halt his shaking as he lifts the tiny body and lays it beside Kushina. Only then does he allow himself to look properly, to catch more than a flash of identifying genitalia and blonde hair. He has Minato’s eyes too but his nose and the roundness of his cheeks, that’s all Kushina. Neither of them remark on the whiskers.

“He’s beautiful, Mina.” Kushina whispers, following her statement with a wet laugh. “Kami, he’s so much of both of us, ya know.”

“I know.” Minato answers without really needing to, hopelessly soft. The sound of the world coming apart outside filters in. A roar and the shaking of the ground alerts them all to a disaster at their doorstep. Minato straightens. “I’ll be right back.”

“Genma, Raido, protect them.” He says simply, already gone.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Dressed for battle and armed with all his effects, Minato appears just in time to stop the dense ball of Bijuu chakra from exploding across the faces of Konoha’s Hokage.

For a moment so brief he nearly doesn’t notice it, the Kyuubi locks eyes with him and stops. Eyes as red as blood flare with the patterns of the Sharingan and the chaos begins again. The man in the mask follows him out of the village.

Minato gets an idea.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Genma and Raido, Biwako-sama and her nurses can do nothing as he spirits Kushina and their baby from the hospital room.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“I don’t want to submit him to the life of a Jinchuuriki, Minato!” Kushina heaves from the left of him, stubbornly keeping the Kyuubi in place with her chakra chains. “I don’t want him to grow up alone, without either of his parents!”

But Minato’s fingers have flown through most of the seal already and it’s too little too late. 

“I trust him Kushina! There’s no one else in this world who can bear this burden except him and you know it! He’ll keep this village safe and he’ll make us proud, believe in him!”

His best friend groans low as the Kyuubi shifts and roars, demanding to be freed. “We just got him Minato, we can’t leave him behind already. We haven’t even agreed on a name yet!”

Minato smiles through his delirium, blinking back the tears in favor of keeping a steady eye on the struggling Kyuubi.

“Naruto. It has to be Naruto.” He laughs breathlessly. “His mother loves ramen more than anything in all the nations and it’s the name in Jiraiya-sensei’s book. The Tale of Naruto the Hero! He’ll save this world, I just know it!”

“Kami’s sake, Naruto it is then.” She answers back, one finger tracing the whisker marks on the crying newborn’s face. Minato locks eyes with her and the pair of best friends smile brokenly at each other.

Kushina releases an abrupt snort but doesn’t raise a hand to wipe her tears.“We never agreed on those titles, ya know.”

“What titles?” Minato bites his cheek through the pain of Kyuubi’s Yin half sealing itself inside him.

“On which one of us is his mother and which is his father. No one else has this problem.”

He wrinkles his nose at the thought, diving forwards at the same time Kushina does. The Kyuubi’s claw buries itself through their torsos but, blessedly, misses Naruto by a hair. Minato can feel Kushina pushing back against him and the two of them impale themselves further, keeping the child in front of them safe by dragging the long claw backwards.

“It’s too complicated.” He coughs out, smiling through the pain, blood staining his teeth. 

Kushina giggles maniacally in response, exacerbating the tearing of her lungs. “First time you’ve ever won an argument and it’s this one, ya know.”

It’s not clear if she’s referring to both of them dying or how their son was intended to go about referring to them but it really doesn’t matter either way. Minato’s smile turns small and soft and he focuses the last of his chakra on this.

“I’m attaching what’s left of my chakra onto the seal so that one day, if it ever gets that far, I can stop it from opening fully. I’m going to do the same with yours, Shina. Last chance to impart some wisdom.”

Kushina takes the opportunity. Minato thinks he can make out the image of the Sandaime Hokage at the edge of the treeline and he summons Gerotora to take the key to Naruto’s seal. Moments pass. The two of them grin, unseeing, and the rest is - as they say- history. 

  
  
  



	2. Death & Rebirth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its amazing how i just finished this five minutes ago and don't at all care to properly edit it anymore than i already did while typing, i'll probably hate myself for that in the morning but lol that's tomorrow's problem
> 
> line breaks have been placed wherever there's a shift in pov, whole sections consisting of multiple paragraphs of italics are memories

Despite all orders to the contrary, Kakashi is on duty the night his sensei goes into labor. Minato-sensei had urged him earlier in the day to allow himself to rest, that the blonde Hokage would be perfectly safe in the confines of the Uchiha compound. He and Kushina were practically honorary clan members and everyone in the elemental nations knew how protective Uchiha were of their own. Uchiha Fugaku, the 22nd Clan Head, would be accompanying the non-couple throughout their visit as Minato and Kushina would be making the trip across the village to meet his and Mikoto’s newest son. As they had been unable to meet the small infant for any substantial amount of time prior, due to Minato entering his third trimester and- upon Kushina and Kakashi’s insistence - urged to remain housebound, today would be the first time they could properly goggle and spoil their newest godson. 

If Kakashi had any say in the matter, he would’ve locked his sensei away in the Uzumaki compound and that would be that. But, despite how close he was to his due date, Minato had insisted, wearing Kushina down as well, and Kakashi was outvoted. Privately, Genma and Raidou had agreed - Iwashi elsewhere guarding the Sandaime - but were less concerned as he was, given the security of the Uchiha to protect their charges should the need arise. Kakashi didn’t think anywhere was safe enough. Hadn’t since the day he’d been informed of the tiny life Minato was carrying in his belly.

_“Kashi, Kushina and I invited you over to my apartment today to have an important discussion.” Minato begins, seating himself beside Kakashi while Kushina stands behind the frame of the couch._

_Kakashi resists the urge to frown. “Is something wrong, Sensei? Did something happen?” He revisits the count of weapons he has on his body at all times - shuriken, explosive tags, kunai, chidori, Obito’s eye - and mulls over his schedule for the next few days in the event of a mission his sensei needs doing._

_Kushina grins over Minato’s shoulder and Kakashi’s gut tightens. “We have news, ya know! News we really wanted to share with you! It’s great, Kakashi-kun!”_

_Ah._

_Right._

_Of course._

_Kakashi is in Minato’s apartment as Kushina hovers over them and was invited with the express intention to share an important announcement. It’s Kushina’s wide grin and slight, excited tremor that seals the deal. He’ll need to visit the Memorial Stone again today, he owes Obito 100 ry_ _ō_ _. Perhaps if Rin were here, she’d lay a hand on his shoulder consolingly - she’d become so good at reading him during their last year together._

_Minato’s lips turn up at the edges in a small smile and Kakashi braces for an announcement many in the village had believed was a long time coming. Kushina interrupts, barreling on without allowing her best friend to get a word out._

_“We’re pregnant!”_

_Kakashi’s stomach nosedives._

_“You’re married?” He responds before he can stop himself._

_“What? No.” Kushina’s face wrinkles in confusion. “No, that’s not what I said, ya know. I said we’re pregnant, Kakashi-kun, weren’t you listening?”_

_He swallows imperceptibly._

_While ninja, especially ninja from clans with as much prestige and history as the Uzumaki, had a tendency to marry and bind themselves with their partners officially, it isn’t altogether unfamiliar for that matter to be skipped over entirely. It certainly hadn’t been the first priority during war so much as securing future soldiers for the village and, although most couples preferred a wedding now that they had the time to fully celebrate their union, Kushina and Minato were never_ most _couples. They were never together in an official or unofficial manner and had confused many of the village civilians and ninja elite with the indiscernible nature of their relationship. Like Obito, several other shinobi bet in favor of a secret romance - they were a unit in battle, why not be one in life as well - but just as many shinobi bet against, simply citing the pointlessness of hiding. Rin had, encouragingly, egged their other teammate on by beginning discussions about the potential wedding anytime sensei wasn’t in earshot. Her and Obito seemed to agree that, while Kushina would wear the wedding kimono, Minato would be the one lifted like a bride by the end of the ceremony. Kakashi had been too busy training to insert his opinion even if he had one._

_It seems both of his teammates_ _friends_ _were wrong after all, Minato and Kushina had skipped any nuptials and went straight to parenthood._

_He pulls himself from his thoughts, forcefully. “Congratulations, Kushina-san. I’m sure you will be a wonderful mother.” Kakashi returns his gaze to an endeared Minato. “And you as well, Sensei. Your child will have no better choice for a father.”_

_Kushina huffs pleasantly, lifting her arm to teasingly ruffle blonde locks. Minato waves her off, aiming a glare in her direction that’s absent of any real heat._

_“Damn, Mina. You were right, he went with the traditional titles.”_

_“That would be because you haven’t clarified anything, Shina. Again.” Minato smiles. “Besides, that makes things easier for us, doesn’t it?”_

_“No, it makes things boring. I refuse, we can decide at a later date.”_

_“Making things harder for yourself, is what you’re doing.”_

_Something in Kushina’s gaze sharpens and Kakashi watches as her grin turns sly._

_“But you’re the one carrying what I put in you, ya know. Want to revisit that particular memory while we debate just who between us is who?”_

_Minato’s face turns scarlet as Kakashi frowns in confusion._

_“Shina!”_

_The Uzumaki heiress cackles, throwing her head back and laughing with her whole body. She wipes a tear from her eye after a moment passes, not at all withering beneath the heat of a real glare from her best friend._

_“He’s not a child anymore, Mina. Besides, he’s definitely heard worse. A certain Uchiha teammate of his certainly used to_ read _worse.”_

_“Kami, I still haven’t forgiven Jiraiya-sensei for corrupting Obito that way.”_

_“Eh, but it’s good reading though?”_

_“I prefer his older works.”_

_“That’s because you’re a prude.” Kushina taps Minato’s nose to prevent a response. “And I love you for it.”_

_Having flinched internally at the mention of Obito, Kakashi feels a thrumming beneath his skin - urging him to finish this conversation quickly. He frowns at the feeling, digging his nails into his palm to focus his attention on what’s in front of him. Sensei and Kushina-san care about him enough to let him in on information most of the village doesn’t know yet(if they did, it’s all anyone would be talking about), they deserve to have the same courtesy returned._

_“I’m… confused.” He finally gets out. The couple halts their bantering to turn back towards him._

_Minato’s eyes, a shade of blue Kakashi couldn’t forget even if he tried, search his face for several long seconds. He relaxes eventually, bringing his hands forward to hold Kakashi’s own in a loose clasp and beaming gently, tenderly._

_“When Kushina said ‘we’re pregnant’, she actually meant me. The Uzumaki line can’t be allowed to die out when she does and so she went to me so we could figure something out. Together, we used a sealing technique to temporarily grant me the necessary physiology to carry a child, as well as give Kushina what_ she _needed to give me one.” Minato’s thumb strokes the back of his hand, softly. “I’m pregnant, Kakashi.”_

_The silver-haired sixteen year-old processes his sensei’s words as he responds. “And Kushina-san?” He doesn’t need to finish his question, Minato understanding him immediately._

_Somehow, he always did._

_“You know that Kushina is the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.” Minato starts, eyes serious now._

_Kakashi does. It’s information closely guarded for a reason, few in the village being privy to it, and he doesn’t need sensory abilities to know that there are at least three of his own sensei’s silencing seals binding the living room area of his apartment alone. When Lady Mito had passed, everyone was informed that the Kyuubi was sealed through other means, in something similar to the teacup Sunagakure kept their own Bijuu that no one in Konoha was supposed to know about, closely guarded at all times. Binding the Kyuubi inside an Uzumaki didn’t happen enough times outside of the Shodaime’s wife for it to become expected tradition, she lived a long life. It was an easy lie to believe. Kakashi only knows Kushina is the Jinchuuriki from proximity to her and Minato for years._

_Kushina and Minato were a unit in the war for more reasons than one. They were inseparable, had known each other since their Academy days, and thus they worked the best together - at peak destructive performance around the one other person with the experience to fight alongside them without dying in the process. And...they were also both Fuuinjutsu masters. If Kushina failed to keep the Kyuubi from escaping, for whatever reason, Minato had the necessary expertise to contain it and mitigate the potential disaster. (Keep the Kyuubi from getting into enemy hands, more like.)_

_Knowing what he does, he thinks he follows where his sensei is leading him._

_Kakashi reflects. Childbirth was understood to be a highly exertive, painful experience wasn’t it? Kakashi takes a breath. He has so much to protect._

_“I see.”_

_Minato nods, thumb still stroking his hand. Kushina waits._

_“As I said before, congratulations. To the both of you.”_

_They breathe together._

  
  
  


Uchiha Fugaku trusts Minato implicitly and Minato is his Hokage, but Minato _respects_ Fugaku implicitly and orders Kakashi, Genma, and Raidou against concealing their presence for the duration of their visit. Perhaps if Minato were the Sandaime, he would allow them to remain hidden but he knows Fugaku well enough to see the slight, imperceptible tension between his shoulders at the idea of non-Uchiha ninja having free reign in his compound. Kakashi knows Minato well enough to not argue when the order comes.

Genma takes flank with Raidou as Kakashi follows a step behind Minato and Fugaku-san, Kushina barreling on ahead in search of her own Uchiha best friend. Even surrounded by Minato’s ‘extended’ family, capable ninja in their own right, and the Konoha Police Force, they refuse to let their guards down. Minato and Kushina greet several people as they pass, Minato with a smile and Kushina with a boisterous yell, but none stop to start conversation - likely refraining at the sight of their stone-faced Clan Head and Minato’s very, _very_ round belly and somewhat stilted walk. Kakashi doesn’t know any of them enough to confidently discern whether it’s respect for the Captain of the Police Force that stops them or consideration for Minato’s feet and back pain. 

Kakashi would carry him if it wasn’t an insult to Minato’s pride and reputation. Kushina had jokingly offered as much before they left Uzumaki grounds and received a firm glare in response.

They reach Fugaku-san’s family home eventually, Kushina immediately pulling Mikoto-san into a bearhug and the two women greet each other as Minato graciously allows Kakashi to take off his sandals. He doesn’t quite pout but he refuses to meet Kakashi’s gaze as he sits, eyeing Fugaku-san as he closes the door behind Raidou. Minato rises after a moment, accepting Kakashi’s arm to help him up, just in time for Mikoto-san to walk over. The Uchiha Matron takes him in with a grin, laying a hand on his cheek as Minato mirrors her expression. Her other hand comes to rest around Minato’s stomach, weight kept carefully light.

“It’ll be a boy, for sure.”

Kakashi watches Minato roll his eyes affectionately.

“We told you that already, the doctor said so months ago.”

“Yes, but if you didn’t have a doctor, I would still say it.” Mikoto-san responds, voice wry. “I’ve had two boys before remember? And you’re carrying narrow not wide.”

Minato averts his gaze for an instant, mumbling. “If I didn’t have a doctor, I would’ve refused Kushina outright when she first suggested it. It hardly feels pleasant now and the birth will be worse.”

Fugaku-san comes to stand beside his wife as Genma and Raidou settle behind Kakashi and Mikoto-san giggles.

“Understandable. Thank Kami for medical ninjutsu.” She opens her mouth to say more but a silent presence makes itself known, carrying a small bundle of fabric.

Five year-old Uchiha Itachi stands at his father’s side, rocking his sleeping baby brother gently, and bows to greet them. Kushina allows it for all of two seconds before crouching in front of him to get a better look at the baby cocooned in white fabric.

“He’s beautiful, Koto. He’ll be a heartbreaker by the time he learns to talk.” The redhead moves to hug Itachi, careful not to disturb the infant in his arms, and Minato enters the house proper to make his own greetings. 

“You spoil him already.” Fugaku-san rumbles, unsmiling.

If it wasn’t for Minato’s wide grin, Kakashi would have assumed the man was displeased. As it stands, neither Minato, Kushina, or Mikoto-san seem bothered.

“Sasuke.” Minato breathes lowly, enunciating the name as if to test how it feels on his tongue. Itachi has lifted his brother into Kushina’s arms by now and Minato swipes the sleeping child’s cheek with his knuckles, ever so gentle. His sensei looks up at the Uchiha Clan Head briefly, grin alight with mischief. “Your father would have us regard you as an adult so soon.” His voice dips into a conspiratorial whisper. “But Kushina and I are your godparents, see, and adults who can make our own decisions. Even better, I’m Fu-chan’s Hokage, which means I can spoil you all I like and any complaints have to be written on paperwork and filed accordingly. Just between you and me, your papa hates paperwork.”

_Fu-chan_ ’s jaw drops at the statement and it’s the most uncomposed Kakashi has ever seen him. Kushina nods along enthusiastically, grin as sly as the blonde beside her, and Mikoto-san remains wisely silent but clearly amused. Itachi’s eyes widen and he looks up at his father like he’s seeing him for the first time but then, he’s wiping the look of disbelief clean in the next instant, no doubt filing the information away for later deliberation. Kakashi feels Genma tense behind him, probably attempting to suppress a noise of surprise beneath his mask, and Raidou - ever vigilant - remains the standard of decorum.

Mikoto-san takes Minato’s arm as Kushina wraps her own around the Uchiha Matron’s waist and the amused trio of war heroes delve deeper into the home, Itachi - once again holding baby Sasuke - trailing after them like a dutiful duckling. 

Uchiha Fugaku, 25 years old, War Hero in his own right, Clan Head, and Captain of the Konohagakure Police Force gathers what’s left of his dignity and follows, one step behind. 

Kakashi doesn’t laugh, he doesn’t. Raidou doesn’t laugh, honestly Kakashi’s not even sure if he’s capable of it. 

Genma laughs.

Minato will, playfully and long-sufferingly, rebuke him later. For political reasons.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Everything goes well until Minato mentions visiting Police Headquarters. Even on temporary leave, he reflects a Hokage’s constant concern over their village, and Fugaku-san does his best to reject the idea on the spot. Sharing a look with his wife as they decide against it and trying to catch Kushina’s eyes to gain a further advantage against the stubborn blonde. But Kushina is busy, simultaneously braiding Itachi’s hair and cooing over little Sasuke, and Minato won’t have his mind changed. Mikoto-san, frowning but otherwise occupied with being a good host to Kushina and caring for her sons, sees them out - throwing another look her husband’s way. 

Kakashi doesn’t know her all that well but the message is clear enough.

_Be careful_.

Reluctantly, Kakashi, Raidou, and Genma leave to guard them both. Without so much as a raised hand, eight Uchiha ninja stop what they’re doing, pulling away from buildings or changing direction on the spot, to take protective stances around the large home. One of them looks like they’ve just finished getting their groceries, laying the bag next to them as they finger a kunai and look outwards, eyes trained for any threats. Mikoto-san and her children are safe on their family grounds, surrounded by their clan, Kushina will be as well. An Anbu’s charge is the Hokage first and foremost.

Kakashi’s will always be Minato.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The Uchiha Police Headquarters are in sight when the baby decides to come early.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Kakashi arrives on Uchiha grounds just in time to see a man in an orange mask knock Uchiha Mikoto unconscious on the doorstep of her family home, disappearing with Uzumaki Kushina before he can so much as flash-step in their direction. He orders a stunned Itachi back into the house and nods at the Uchiha ninja as they follow the young heir inside. They, more than anyone, understand him in this moment.

They have, the nine of them, failed their tasks. Compromised carefully-placed trust. It doesn’t matter that they were looking for threats if they couldn’t stop them. It doesn’t matter that the man had clearly appeared out of nothing and disappeared just as fast. If Minato or Fugaku demand their lives as recompense tonight, they’ll slit their throats gladly. 

  
  


He helfts Mikoto-san into his arms quickly and makes for the hospital.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Minato screams from his hospital bed and Kakashi, desperate and half-crazed, can’t differentiate if it’s because of pain or frustration. Perhaps it is disappointment, disgust. Kakashi needs to leave, needs to go, needs to correct his mistake. He doesn’t have time to explore the consequences of his sensei possibly rejecting him. Doesn’t have time to wonder what will become of him if he’s just lost the last thing in the world that kept him following in his father’s footsteps. 

Kakashi. Doesn’t. Have. Time. 

A sound like the world falling apart rips itself from Minato’s throat and Kakashi feels it go through him, knees weak but resolve strengthening. His sensei’s eyes - _blue so blue, like the sky and the sea all at once, like calm and home and_ **_purpose_ ** \- glisten with tears.

Kakashi makes time.

He takes Fugaku-san’s place beside his sensei’s bed, handing the Uchiha Matron to her husband and only dimly registering that the older man exits the room, no doubt to get her checked over. A shaking hand - _shaking why is he shaking he can’t be shaking he has to be focused, he has to be_ **_calm_ ** _, he waits for Minato to open his eyes where he’d closed them, calm arrives_ \- comes up to wipe sweat and tears from Minato’s cheek. Kakashi inhales deeply, forcing his breath to come steady. 

“I’ll find her, Sensei. You won’t lose anyone anymore.” 

He disappears on the exhale.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Kakashi never does find Kushina. Not until the end.

His palm bleeds freely from where he’d slit it to the bone, too hurried in summoning his ninken to care how firmly he’d dug his kunai, but he pays it no mind. He stares down at the body of his sleeping sensei - _he’s sleeping he has to be sleeping not another one he can’t lose another one he looks so much like father_ _did_ \- thoughts disjointed as they try to reconcile the peace on Minato’s face to the hole in his chest and the stillness of his lungs where they glint wetly under the moonlight. 

Pakkun doesn’t shift from beside him, still as stone and face morose. The other dogs haven’t found them yet, still scouring Konoha’s vast forest, ignorant of how their master’s world has stopped spinning, stopped breathing, stopped smiling.

“They chose Naruto.” Sarutobi Hiruzen offers without explanation, voice hushed and shoulders heavy with mourning.

It’s not clear if he means the name or the option. Minato was Hokage, there should’ve only been two. His village or his life. Genius that he was, he and Kushina made a third. Two for the price of one. Kakashi won’t ask what Hiruzen mourns more, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina and all that they were - or the village that Konoha would have become with Minato as its leader. He doubts he’ll like the answer and Kakashi is half-feral already, he knows all too well how he’d react.

The village won’t recover from two dead Hokage.

Sakumo’s voice fights through the ages of time, ringing in his ears. 

_Never forget, Kakashi. We of the Hatake are wolves and wolves are what they covet. Our blood has never forgotten that, even if our minds have, even if the years have dulled our fangs. We are not Inuzuka, we do not keep hounds in our youth as partners and companions because we need them - because they represent the other half of our soul. Hatake do not need, Hatake_ want _and want fiercely. You chose Pakkun and the rest because the wolf in you desired a pack and one wasn’t enough. Wolves are selfish, dangerous_ always _but never more so than in the face of loss. Choose well what you love._

Naruto’s cries pitch high, the baby taking deep, gulping breaths as the Sandaime Hokage hands him off to Kakashi without a word. He opens his eyes - _blue so blue the same exact shade why Kami why_ \- and quiets with a grumble, settling in arms too weak to bear the burden of any life so soon. Only twenty minutes old, he smiles his first smile.

Kakashi’s world starts, moving with a jolt as if to spin again. 

Weak, fragile, unwilling to try after so much death.

  
  


Baby Naruto falls asleep cradled to Kakashi’s chest.

  
  


It turns little by little, rusty gears heaving and groaning.

The world spins but Kakashi’s spirit is darker for it, lone, uncovered, eye dull and unfocused. The Sharingan remains hidden by his hitai-ite, sparing Obito the sight of their fallen teacher. He doesn’t see it as a mercy to himself, to keep the Sharingan from burning the sight of the Kyuubi’s carnage in unerring detail into his unsound mind. It’s no mercy at all, his memory doesn’t need the help.

Minato and Kushina grin, bodies laid out beside each other. Kakashi will see their death behind his eyelids for many years to come.  
  


Later, it will be his job to hold the child while faces wrinkled with age inspect and deliberate on the boy’s fate, closely eyeing the ink of a fresh seal spread out over the newborn’s soft belly. 

Later, the Council of Elders, alongside the Sandaime Hokage, will decide to give Naruto his mother’s family name - to protect him from his father’s enemies. 

Later, Kakashi will breathe a sigh of relief. With _Uzumaki_ a disconnect can be fostered - it’s the name of a whole clan after all, dead and buried as they are, not just Kushina - but _Namikaze_ was the name of an orphan, it came from nothing and belonged to just the one. _Namikaze_ meant Student, Flash, Teacher, Kage. _Namikaze_ was the name of a man beloved by too many to count and feared by twice that number. There can be no mistaking it for someone else and the grief is still too close, will be this way for a long while. 

These things will come in the twilight hours. 

For now, Kakashi just looks at Naruto, holding silent vigil over the babe asleep in his arms.

There will be years for him to turn away. 

* * *

  
  


Kurama has never died before. 

It’s a troublesome experience. Tedious and vexing. 

Impregnating his latest jailer’s not-mate-but-close-enough had been the shot in the dark meant to circumvent this exact debacle. Her decision to diminish herself by having a child had one of his ears raised in interest but Kurama had paid for his mistake after alerting her of it.

_“I’m having this baby, Kyuubi. And you won’t stop me.”_

_Sharp, white teeth flash as he smirks._

_“_ **_Go ahead then, brat_ ** _.”_

_Lilac eyes harden, Kushina drawing her outstretched fingers into a clenched fist from outside the bars of his cage. She lifts her chin, flashing the large beast a grin of her own._

_“I’m having this baby and I won’t be putting the village at risk to do it.”_

Damn the Uzumaki and their sealing techniques. Damn their obsession with having a seal for everything. He’d roared at the realization that a nine month wait for his bindings to weaken with her pregnancy would prove futile, as the redhead snooped around clan secrets and found what she was looking for.

Yet somehow still.

Still… Kurama had seen opportunity in those texts. Known from piggybacking on Kushina’s consciousness that the technique she’d settled on wasn’t as airtight as it seemed. It wouldn’t harm her or Namikaze by any means - _the Uzumaki were thorough bastards_ \- but it was never intended for use on a Jinchuuriki. Especially the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Mito hadn’t needed it, what with her husband’s Mokuton, hadn’t even _considered_ it. It had never so much as appeared on her radar. (Perhaps if it had, Kurama wouldn’t have been able to exploit its holes). The rest of her clan had no need to make adjustments to its function so as to account for inhumane amounts of chakra the likes only a Tailed Beast was capable of, and they never would’ve dared. The Uzumaki profited from the selling of their seals but they were also loyal to a fault and had blood ties to Konoha since the end of the Warring Clans Period. Helping the Jinchuuriki of any other nation over something as inconsequential as a potential child would betray that bond, the very bond they’d sold their own princess over to the Senju just to secure. What would be the point?

Kushina and Namikaze spent a week learning the ins and outs of the Hermaphrodite Style and it showed in their execution of it, combined mastery yielding a seal that was perfect down to the tiniest application of ink. Namikaze was a prodigious student from his early youth, natural talent and firm determination fashioning a mind that could make connections even Jiraiya of the Sannin had trouble understanding. Kushina? Sealing ran in her blood. She was Mito’s student when the old prune had been alive, and had Uzushiogakure’s wealth of information one specifically-tailored Hiraishin away, her clan’s last gift before their death. Unfortunately for the two of them, Namikaze was intelligent certainly, a fish in water when it came to Fuuinjutsu but ultimately one whose roots began with Kushina’s knowledge, Jiraiya’s expertise, and Tobirama’s meager notations. None of Tobirama’s notes came _close_ to crafting a seal with half of this one’s intricacy - _biology was ever so tricky, especially when trying to sustain a completely separate life for months on end_ \- Jiraiya’s expertise only ran so far, and Kushina. Uzumaki ‘Red Hot Habanero’ Kushina. Oh, Kurama had been forced to suppress a laugh. Kushina was working off a mere month’s worth of teachings from a dying Uzumaki Sealing Mistress, techniques as old her clan’s beginnings, and had made the deadly assumption that a seal as old as the Hermaphrodite Style had been adapted to function on every permutation. 

But perhaps he’d been overly critical of his current jailer when, really, the fault began with her ancestors. They lacked imagination.

Kurama had knowledge spanning the very first spark of existence and his father’s mind for jutsu. That and a fox’s opportunistic predilection. He found the hole. It was so small, really. Barely even the width of one of his whiskers. Still, he’d counted on it being more than enough. It _should_ have been.

The Bijuu had made fine work of staying away from the active corners of Kushina’s awareness but, even when his physical features bled through her, neither of the brightly-colored ninja had the presence of mind to examine it. He knew immediately when the seed took. He knew, immediately, that his plan failed. Kurama had fed chakra through the gap caused by overlapping Uzumaki seals not fully compatible with each other and yet nothing. It was so small. _Too_ small to escape through, he surmised. The roar he’d released, coupled with how he threw his weight against the immovable bars holding him in, only served to assure Kushina that all had gone according to plan. Kurama remained in his cage. 

His jailer was an attentive sperm donor and hovered often around Namikaze, sticking to his side and coercing him into living at her family compound by the end of the second month. He watched them live together, eat together, talk together in low tones every night about how the child would grow up. Kurama hated them both, hated them for everything they stood for, hated the life that grew in Namikaze’s newfangled womb. He was keenly aware of the minute existence, unable to remove it from his cognizance. Could practically feel every breath that it took for all the chakra he’d fed into it. Parasite. Leech. _Failure_. Had he any say, Namikaze would lose it before the third month was done.

He didn’t. The seal they’d chosen made sure of that much. Kurama’s added chakra guaranteed it. 

A strong life, small as it was. 

A loophole he’d hoped to exploit that had ultimately resulted in more power for his oppressors to use against him. 

For all that he could despise her for enslaving him, the Uzumaki witch at least had the decency to knab someone of merit. Namikaze rose to Hokage - _he spits the word with vitriol as Kushina preens_ \- and the child’s existence cements itself as another leash to the very people that subjugated him. Konoha’s Yellow Flash began to show and everyone, from brats barely away from their mother’s breast to old prunes ready to keel over at the next harsh breeze, offered their _most sincere_ congratulations. Didn’t matter that they didn’t understand how, didn’t matter they’d never known the man on a personal level instead of an obscure understanding of his part in securing peace for their village. All of them suddenly had a stake in it, Namikaze’s pregnancy interpreted as an auspicious sign from the Sage himself instead of a frivolous Uzumaki trade secret. 

_Divine providence_. 

He imagined ripping their heads off with his teeth. 

Kurama’s fire rested in Namikaze’s belly and he’d tear it out himself if it meant taking back every bit of power the growing Uzumaki monstrosity stole from him at the moment of conception. 

Month six arrived with no complications, wholly uneventful except for the fact that that’s when the little nuisance starts kicking. Namikaze jokingly blamed it on Kushina’s liveliness the first few times and then not so jokingly any time after, tending instead towards grimaced admittance coupled with a glare or two at the redheaded woman. The child was hyper-active near the end of the second trimester and hell-bent on playing ball with his bearer’s various organs. Kushina laughed until Namikaze doubled over from a particularly hard jab that had her rushing over, one hand placed subconsciously over his swollen midsection. Then, and only then, had the kicking ceased.

Kurama wouldn’t give a flying _fuck_ if he wasn’t explicitly aware that the reason for the consistent exciteability was his chakra finally mixing with the brat’s developing coils instead of just encouraging their growth like in the months prior. Kurama wouldn’t need to suppress the urge to _claw_ at himself because the child only stopped any thrashing when Kushina was touching Namikaze - a result of the still-acclimating Kyuubi chakra responding solely to Kurama’s latent excess of the stuff. Kurama wouldn’t draw back and _snarl_ every time an Inuzuka pup turns their nose to sniff after Namikaze as he passes, confused by the new scent beneath his skin. Kurama wouldn’t _bristle_ and _seethe_ in his cage nearly as much as he does midway through July if Namikaze’s cravings weren’t taking a turn from peanut butter-and-anchovies to steak so rare it was practically still breathing. In all his years bound to Uzumaki Kushina, he’d never seen the blonde man consume his weight in various berries and fruits in one sitting. Namikaze had eyed the Aburame hives no more than three times before finally getting himself together and deciding insects were the one craving he wasn’t willing to satiate. An all-together odd turn of events given Kurama had never felt hunger pangs as a Bijuu, but still vulpine cravings in nature. 

A mix-breed human kit. Unnatural on every level. Neither Kushina nor Namikaze had a full understanding of what grew in the latter's womb. Kurama knew all too well.

The Yondaime Hokage cedes his position back to the Third at the start of the seventh month, belly swollen the size of a small melon. His wolf-child of an ex-student and the two other Anbu operatives tasked as Namikaze’s protective detail temporarily move into the Uzumaki compound, Kushina graciously giving them the next house over. Kurama does his best to tune it all out, retreating further into his seal until he can scarcely tell where his physical form begins and where it dissipates, ends blurring into pure chakra to further fuel his bindings. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


He feels the exact moment Namikaze’s water breaks, Kushina picking up on it before he can completely conceal the pulse of sensation. Redhair flies as Kushina runs from the Uchiha compound, Uchiha Mikoto at her heels, and neither of them see the enemy until it’s too late. The Hatake boy appears in the distance, just in time to see them go.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


For Kurama, liberation comes at the price of a Sharingan. The ninja in the orange mask is skilled, managing to undo Uzumaki seal work in just over an hour without accidentally killing both the host and the Kyuubi inside during the process. The last of the seal dissipates and Kurama rips his way from Kushina’s stomach livid and thirsting for blood. A genjutsu falls across his mind like shutters over a window, the invisible bars of another cage.

Dimly, under layers and layers of illusion, he realizes he’s razing Konoha to the ground just as he’s wanted for decades. 

It doesn’t mean much with someone else at the reigns.

Namikaze emerges, standing atop Senju Tobirama’s face, and teleports Kurama’s Bijuu bomb before it impacts. Lucidity breaks through the genjutsu for a split second, Kurama feeling for the whereabouts of their hybrid kit, still hoping against hope the child has died. 

One less weapon against him, that’s all he wants. Just one less.

He feels his chakra within the boy respond from the direction of Konoha’s hospital and aims a tail in that direction just as Namikaze hiraishins him and the masked ninja elsewhere. Red eyes and spinning tomoe’s cloud his mind once more and the genjutsu bears down with triple its previous force.

Kurama is both freer than he has been in a century and more of a slave for it. Nothing has changed. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The genjutsu slips free in time for familiar chakra chains to trap him within their grip. Kurama rages and roils, roaring at the imperceptible shift in the air - the activation of a Reaper Death Seal.

He might laugh if he wasn’t so fucking angry. He settles for spearing Kushina and Namikaze on one of his claws instead.

The Uzumaki monstrosity mocks him from its altar, an Eight Trigrams Seal to match Namikaze’s appearing on his stomach as Kurama feels himself splitting into two.

Yang enters a new host, enslaved once again.

Yin dies and goes to hell. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


They are trapped, the both of them.

A miserable enough concept without the added annoyance of the Yondaime’s sudden gab.

Kurama is dead and Namikaze won’t. Shut. Up. 

“- then Shikaku had the nerve to tell me I cheated. Me! He didn’t play Shogi with me again for years, after that. Sore loser. Fugaku, on the other hand, really does cheat and _still_ loses. Bless his heart, he’s as predictable as a cloud during storm season. Mikoto lets him win all the time but he hasn’t figured that much out yet. Itachi’s absolutely relentless, though.” The spirit of the dead Yondaime smiles softly, glowing eerily in the dark. “Bright one, him.”

_Wasn’t he always the quieter one out of the two of them? And I thought the Uzumaki was bad._

He opens his mouth to trap the other soul between his teeth. Namikaze pauses just enough to switch topics, unencumbered by his new position.

“We’re already dead, Kyuubi-san. You’re not accomplishing much.”

Kurama growls, grinding his teeth together and pretending like it makes him feel better. It doesn’t. “Will you never cease your yammering?!”, he barks around his locked jaw. 

“Oh, are we playing the quiet game now?” Namikaze chirps, eyes shining. Greatly exaggerating his actions, the dead ninja brings a hand to his mouth and mimes a closing zipper. Kurama hurls him across the void and suppresses a curse at the lack of a pained response. Eventually, the other soul comes wandering back, settling in front of him in a seated position.

Somehow, the silent staring is worse. 

Namikaze smiles. Kurama seethes.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Eternity in the Shinigami’s stomach is an interesting affair, once you get past the excruciating pain like microscopic needles piercing your spirit at all hours. Time slinks on like molasses and, try as he might, Minato can’t reliably ascertain how long he’s been here. He can't tell if he’s just arrived five minutes ago or if five years have passed.

If not for the Kyuubi, he probably would’ve forfeited his sanity into the darkness surrounding them long ago.

Minato doesn’t have a body where he is. Aside from the dull glow, he sees himself as he was in life - those are the calluses he got from years of wielding kunai on his fingers, that’s the birthmark on his upper left thigh he’d been oddly fond of for how little there were on him elsewhere, and it’s _his_ wild hair that dangles to the sides of his face - but he doesn’t _feel_ any of it. Minato doesn’t feel his fingers when he pulls them together, doesn’t register breathing when he watches his chest expand on reflex alone despite the absence of air. What little sensation he does have, can only be cataloged as pain. There’s no gentle touch of hair on his fingers when he cards his hands through blonde locks but there’s the sharp discomfort that comes with a meaningful tug. 

It’s as maddening as it is fascinating. If she could see him now, voluntarily dragging his nails along the expanse of his forearms to test his hypothesis, Kushina would accuse him of masochism.

He doesn’t bleed. The pain is constant but he _never_ bleeds. Can’t break bone because there’s none to break. Can’t even break skin for all the clawing he does, simply because, in this place, he is spirit alone - retaining the same form he did in life without any of its concessions. Although, Minato _does_ find it odd that his spirit kept his clothes. Maybe the Shinigami didn’t like the souls he reaped to be nudists in their afterlife? Strange that that would be where there’s an issue but, well, if Minato really had any say, he wouldn’t be here in the first place. 

Hell is dark and empty for all that it _hurts_.

At least he’s not alone.

* * *

  
  


“You know, I can’t start apologizing for things I didn’t know were wrong until you actually tell me.” Namikaze says, eyebrows drawn together as he focuses on braiding one of his long bangs in a simple plait. 

Kurama narrows his eyes, weighing the pros and cons of responding. Past experience tells him the dead Hokage won’t stop blabbering until he’s been somewhat engaged with. He digs his claws into the blackness and resigns himself to his fate.

“What.”

Eyes that had no business still being so blue in death, meet his gaze. Namikaze drops his braid, resting his hands in his lap. Kurama flicks his ear against a particularly sharp stab of pain. 

_Damned Shinigami._

“I said I can’t start apologizing for things we did to you that I didn’t realize were unfair at the time, if you don’t tell me where we messed up. Kushina told me you were sentient but, well, we both know how stubborn she is. I don't think she realized just _how_ sentient and for how long. If she didn’t want to go looking, she wouldn’t. We’re two very different people.” Namikaze pauses. “So tell me where we went wrong.”

Kurama, properly incensed now, rises to his feet - tails whipping the space around them in his fury.

“You dare mock me, mortal worm?!”

“Not even a little bit.” Namikaze seems to debate his next action briefly but eventually leans into a bow. “I apologize if that’s how it came off.”

The bow, admittedly, throws him off but Kurama doesn’t let it show, opening his mouth in a snarl and grabbing at the other soul with his right paw. Namikaze doesn’t dodge and doesn’t struggle despite the cloying hold.

“As if your words mean anything.” He replies in a hiss. “What would be the point in entertaining this whim?”

Namikaze's eyes soften and Kurama tightens his grip to spite him. _He will not be pitied._

“We’re stuck here for eternity, Kyuubi-san. That’s too much time to spend enraged, don’t you think? Haven’t you spent enough time angry? Your entire last life? I realize that’s insensitive of me to say but it’s my honest opinion. You died angry. A waste of other perfectly functioning emotions, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask, Runt.”

Namikaze nods. “No, you didn’t.” 

Kurama flings him into the blackness.  
  


* * *

Minato’s efforts are definitely getting to him. Idly, he wonders how long it’s been since he started his little endeavor to understand the Kyuubi better. Surrounded by darkness and unaware of the passage of time, he finds it doesn’t really matter. They’re never getting out of the Shinigami’s stomach, what else is there to do?

He treks back towards the furious Bijuu but maintains a larger distance to respect the Kyuubi’s decision. Minato works his fingers through his hair, focusing on the task without lingering on the constant stab of pain enveloping him.  
  


* * *

“Your ancestors captured and enslaved me. Was I meant to thank them? You use my power and then despise me for taking issue with it, hypocritical lot you humans.”

Minato looks up from his King Pigeon pose, having taken to yoga upon realizing the added flexibility his soul has when unrestrained by his mortal body’s limitations. The words register slowly but he eases himself into a normal sitting position when they do, gazing at an unbothered Kyuubi. Red eyes stare him down, unblinking.

“That was cruel of us and unfair to you. Hypocrisy is one of the nicer ways to describe what we did.” Minato chooses his next words carefully. “We presumed you to be naturally volatile and dangerous, capable of conscious thought but only to a certain point. A misconception on our parts that we should have looked further into.”

“I appeared in places where human hate festered to the point of summoning me, when your actions against each other resulted in as much death as I myself brought with me. Then, and only then, did I knowingly act as a calamitous force.” The Kyuubi responds lowly, eyes narrowed. “Madara Uchiha manipulated me into fighting your First Hokage so as to gain an upper hand on him. I had no prior interest in involving myself in the petty squabbles of mere mortals and would have left as soon as his genjutsu faded.”

Minato’s eyebrows furrow at the admittance, recalling what little knowledge the village had documented of the Shodaime’s fight against the Uchiha Clan's traitorous ancestor. The Kyuubi’s reticence had never made it into their lessons, whether on purpose or true ignorance, and Minato understands that to lie now would be of no benefit to the Bijuu. 

Senju Hashirama. The God of Shinobi. First Hokage and hero to many of Konoha’s children. Even his own, for the short time before Minato developed a fascination with Fuuinjutsu and fixated on Senju Tobirama instead. Tsunade-sama rarely talked about her grandfather when Minato had been alive to know her and she’d been in the village _to_ know. Outside of adding context to the origins of her gambling addiction, she didn’t speak on him at all. She would stare often at his face on the Hokage Cliff-face, though, eyes soft upon remembrance of simpler times long past. For that alone, Minato hopes it was ignorance and not cruelty that the Shodaime chose to seal the Kyuubi. He hesitates to disparage the man Konoha owed their entire livelihood to.

“It was… improper for Shodaime-sama to condemn you to that. I cannot speak for his intentions, for what he knew and what he didn’t, but I can assure you that I, at least, had no previous knowledge about your propensities against senseless destruction.”

“Oh but I love senseless destruction.”

Minato blinks and elaborates.

“Propensities against senseless destruction outside of being manipulated.”

The Kyuubi seems to judge his earnestness and, if he finds something lacking, doesn’t say. A long, tense moment passes.

“Do you know why I hated Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina so ardently?”

“It was for something other than the fact that they directly jailed you?” Minato inquires, genuinely curious.

Black lips pull into a mocking sneer at his question. “That too, of course. But yes, I had other reasons, as well.”

Minato waits patiently for him to continue.

“What did Kushina tell you about the means to suppress me, Yondaime Hokage?”

Blonde brows draw together in confusion. 

“Love. Mito-sama told her she needed to find love and that once she did, it would be enough. Kushina loved our friends, loved the village, loved _me_ and it was.”

The Kyuubi’s answering laugh is so cynical it turns the space around them caustic. Minato doesn’t flinch, finally numbed to the pain constantly assaulting them.

“ _Love_.” He bites out. “Mocking me with their happiness, knowing better than anyone how miserable I was in my cell. I would’ve jumped at the opportunity to kill both of them.”

_Oh Kushina_ . Minato chides, in the privacy of his own mind. _Forgive me, Mito-sama, but surely there were better ways._

“I can’t say I understand your suffering because I don’t, not _really_ . Me not understanding is the whole reason we’re here now.” The dead ninja begins mindfully. Minato lifts himself onto his knees, plants his hands in front of him with the fingertips just barely touching, and slides them forwards as he lowers his forehead to the hard nothingness beneath them. “All that I can offer you know is my humblest apologies, **Kyūbi** **no** **Yōko**. If you never forgive me or my ancestors for how we have treated you, it will be the least that we deserve.”

The Nine-Tailed Bijuu doesn’t speak for a long time. If it’s a matter of minutes or hours or years, it doesn’t matter. Minato holds his bow. He owes him this and so much more. He owes him more than he could ever offer in death. There is no freedom from the Shinigami’s stomach.

Eventually, a short, succinct huff leaves the Kyuubi and only then does Minato rise. Red eyes stare elsewhere and he recognizes the dismissal for what it is. Nevertheless, Minato doesn’t move into a more comfortable position, choosing instead to remain on his knees.  
  


* * *

“Kurama.” He says, after some time has passed(though neither of them could tell you how much).

Namikaze pauses. Waits. The smile that follows isn’t particularly wide, not akin to a reward doled out to someone who’s finally managed a task asked of them a long time back. Not a quid pro quo. The upward tilt of Namikaze’s lips is small, fleeting. Private. Not meant for Kurama so much as for himself. Not arrogant either, not an expression of pride for his own success at doing the impossible. Appreciation alone. It disappears in the next instant, replaced by quiet acceptance.

“Minato.”

And that is that.  
  


* * *

“Minato.”

A pause.

“Kurama.”

A measured huff, like its owner debates some unseen thought.

“Minato.”

A hum.

“Kurama.”

“You’re annoying.”

A silent wait.

“But I don’t hate you.”

A tail that is not a tail thumps a golden head, though neither party truly feels its impact.

“I like you too.”

A growl followed by light laughter.  
  


* * *

“Maybe if we’d tried petting you while we were alive, you would’ve been more agreeable.” Minato postulates, curiously winding his fingers through orange fur.

“I’d have crushed you where you stood.” Kurama answers without hesitating. “You realize I can’t feel that.”

“Of course. Still, did you like being pet when you were alive? Was it relaxing at all?”

“No one ever pet me.” _They were dead before they could try_ , goes unsaid but understood. Kurama grins to himself at the thought. Sometimes he missed being able to murder as he liked. Admittedly not as much as a sleep uninterrupted by stabbing pain but, sometimes all the same.

He watches Minato’s hand pause its ministrations.

“That explains so much.”

Kurama gathers the dead Hokage into his mouth with his lips, pointedly removed from his teeth, and mimes shaking him like a ragdoll. Minato only goes back to petting the fur around his maw.

“There, there."  
  
  
  


* * *

The space around them doesn’t change until it just _does_. From one moment to the next, death and then the undoing. Abruptly and without warning, Kurama feels a pulling sensation around his very being, glancing down at his smaller companion and watching Minato become momentarily unbalanced as the same happens to him. 

“Kurama?” Minato stares up at him through the feeling, cerulean eyes confused. 

He settles his head over the blonde ninja, tucking him into the side of his neck and wrapping his tails around them both. Fingers that aren’t quite flesh - but soon will - thread into his fur, gripping firmly yet gently, long-accustomed to exerting only enough force to avoid inconveniencing him. Kurama grits his teeth at the feeling of mortality returning, clawing them free from the Shinigami’s stomach, bearing the worst of its stinging weight to allow for a smoother transition for Minato. Between the two of them, Minato’s humanity had left him vulnerable in life, his spirit easily taken from one breath to the next. There’s a chance he might not survive this process. Kurama, on the other hand, would’ve never surrendered to the God of Death so easily had the ravages of a seal not stolen his strength and kept his claws from cleaving divine marrow. This much is easy, bothersome but far from difficult.

The Shinigami would be angry when he discovered his loss but Kurama refuses to let him reclaim his treasure so easily the next time. Not for either of them. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Minato bites the inside of his cheek - his cheek! he has a cheek! - through a pain he’s never suffered before and it isn’t until he feels firm ground beneath his feet that his stomach finally untwists itself. The rapid influx of sensory information hits him as a solid thing and his knees give out from under him, body going down _hard_. Kurama’s left ear flicks harshly, the Kyuubi’s great head swiveling to face his collapsed figure, and - faster than Minato’s overworked senses can process - a fluffy tail softens his speedy descent. Lungs that weren’t there before expand to provide him with air, Minato’s mouth snapping open to ease the way, and he chokes in his rush to inhale. Parsing through various sensations, he filters agony coming from his chest and the pungent smell of blood in the air. He gathers just enough strength to look down and immediately chokes again at the sight of a hole in his sternum. 

_That explains why my lungs feel like Gamabunta-san rammed his foot through them._

A low whine escapes him at the new dilemma but a wet snout nudging at his ear and the sound of shushing stops that in its tracks.

“It’s being dealt with. Stop panicking or you’ll really be in trouble.” Kurama’s gruff voice resounds from his left. A single red eye meets Minato’s own as Kurama’s head settles beside his prone form. “I won’t apologize. You were trying to seal me at the time.”

_Not a new problem then. An old one._

He blinks with his next purposeful inhale, the memory of being impaled on the Kyuubi’s claw with Kushina in front of him, flashing behind Minato’s eyelids. Cutting off his sight removes one pathway for sensation, making it a relatively easier job for Minato to feel his chest knitting itself together. It must’ve been farther into the process than he initially realized, given the size of the perforation was only the size of his fist when he saw it. 

The Fuuinjutsu master groans.

“Not s’ry either… Tried to k’ll us.” He barely manages to get out, voice slurred and croaking.

“‘Stop panicking’ doesn’t mean ‘start talking’. You’ll really die at this rate.” Kurama growls without any malevolence. “And you sound like shit.” He tacks on as an afterthought, huffing into Minato’s hair.

“M’kay.”

The answering snarl is worth his pain and Minato really, _really_ wishes he had the strength to grin. He doesn’t, so he settles for sinking into Kurama’s tail instead. Helpless and suffering but so very _alive_ again, Minato tilts his head to gaze at an iris bigger than his face and blazing like fire. 

“Sleep. Heal. Someone will be along soon.”

Kurama’s voice is a peaceful rumble reverberating through him and Minato hums his assent lethargically, eyes already closing. The familiar dip of a vulpine cheek presses against the flat of his upturned palm, pale pink lips twitching slightly at the feeling. Minato’s acceptance of sleep’s alluring embrace is an easy thing and he’s unconscious in under a minute, feeling for all the world that he’s as safe as can be. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Kurama closes his eyes, feigning vulnerability as well as any Bijuu, and lazily keeps track of the chakra signatures radiating _Leaf Shinobi_ currently heading their way at a dead man’s sprint. Minato’s reserves begin building themselves up again as he slumbers, mingling intimately with the dense pools of the demon fox’s own through an Eight Trigrams Seal fully opened and binding nothing. Kurama shifts his titanic figure once, placing large paws under his chin as a cushion, and settles.

He wonders at how the world has changed.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was a monster to write fkfksk and took me days bc i kept getting stuck on kurama's pov, i only finished it tonight bc kakashi reaaaally wanted to be written and kurama's parts were easier to write after the change up
> 
> pls drop a comment if you can, it srsly helps me to keep writing knowing there's people other than me who cares for this stuff
> 
> also apparently that pregnancy stuff abt 'carrying wide means its a girl, carrying narrow is a boy' is apparently hogwash but oh whale this is fiction so lets pretend it's legit just for this lol
> 
> Next Chapter Preview: 
> 
> Asuma has a bad day.

**Author's Note:**

> really hoping i keep writing this bc i need a vent fic abt so many of the issues in canon and plus i love minato to the ends of the earth so yea
> 
> here's hoping
> 
> comments help and encourage faster updates!!


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